Amnesty wants observers at Islamist trial in Egypt

CAIRO, Aug 4 (Reuters) Human rights group Amnesty International said it had written to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak urging him to allow independent observers to attend the military trial of 40 Muslim Brotherhood members.

''We look to President Mubarak, as Egypt's highest authority, to open the doors to this important trial,'' Amnesty's Secretary General Irene Khan said in a statement late yesterday.

''He should clear the way for it to receive the scrutiny it deserves,'' Khan said. The trial is set to resume tomorrow.

Egyptian authorities have barred observers from international and local human rights groups, including Amnesty International and US-based Human Rights Watch, from attending the previous court sessions.

The Muslim Brotherhood is Egypt's biggest opposition force.

The government says the Brotherhood is banned but the group operates openly.

The 40 members, among them the Brotherhood's third-in-command Khairat el-Shatir, face charges that include money laundering and terrorism. They deny any wrongdoing.

Military trials in Egypt are usually held behind closed doors and attendance requires a permit from the court.

Many analysts say the trial is an escalation of a government crackdown against the non-violent group which won a fifth of the seats in parliament in 2005.

They say authorities want to stop the Brotherhood from making more electoral gains that could help it mount a serious threat to the rule of Mubarak, Egypt's longest-serving ruler since the Albanian-born Mohamed Ali Pasha in the 19th century.

REUTERS PY VC1855